Odum Library Becomes Hub of Activity at VSU

VALDOSTA — Odum Library is the hottest spot in town for
Valdosta State University students.

Dr. Alan Bernstein, university librarian, said that the Odum
Library doors open more than 800,000 times a year. Between July 1, 2011, and
June 30, 2012, specifically, the library doors opened 807,584 — up 6,233 times
compared to the year before.

“The library is a happening place,” he said. “It’s not your
grandmother’s library. It is a vibrant, exciting meeting place for students.”

VSU’s Odum Library experienced an evolution of sorts in the
past 20 years. While students and other visitors can still find a quiet place
to study alone, the library has become a place to see and be seen. Cell phones
are allowed, and food and drinks are sold on the premises. Pizza deliveries
occur on a regular basis as students work on group projects, write an essay,
research a topic of interest, or study for an upcoming exam.

Today’s Odum Library, Bernstein noted, offers an environment
that is conducive to both studying and friendly banter.

“The world has changed, and the library has gone along with
it,” he said.

Odum Library has more than 300 computers available for
student use, and WiFi is operable throughout the facility for those who wish to
use their own devices. The library collection boasts roughly 540,680 volumes in
print, 1.1-plus million units in microprint, and 94,248 government documents,
Bernstein shared. Approximately 2,600 periodicals are received on a regular
basis.

Bernstein noted that circulation activity was up 13 percent
during the 2011-2012 fiscal year at the university library. He added that most
libraries across the country only saw an increase in the number of people
accessing electronic information and using Internet services during the same
time period.

Dedicated to being a major educational and cultural resource
for the university, the library has grown both physically and in terms of its
holdings since the first location opened in 1913 in a room in Converse Hall. The
library moved to West Hall in 1916 and then to Powell Hall in 1940. In 1972,
the current facility opened its doors, and in August of 1990, it was named the
Gertrude Gilmer Odum Library in recognition of a major Valdosta State benefactor
and professor emerita of English. In 2004, the multi-level facility doubled in
size, acquiring an Internet Café, additional computer labs, an electronic
classroom, a new area for Archives and Special Collections, a 100-seat
auditorium, a Georgia Library Learning Online (GALILEO) Technology Center, a
Blazing Brew coffee shop, and expanded study space, book stacks, and reading
rooms, Bernstein noted.

Digital signage throughout Odum Library keeps faculty, staff,
and students, as well as community visitors, informed of general library
information and campus events and activities. Works by both renowned artists
and VSU students hang on the walls, expanding the library’s scope to include an
art gallery and creating a pleasant and inspiring environment for students to
learn and grow. Researchers and historians frequent the fourth floor museum and
archives where anyone can see 5,000-year-old Babylonian clay tablets, early
school memorabilia, rare books, and much more.

“We stay on top of the literature, research the best
practices, study the trends, and then make it work for us,” he said.

While the library has experienced many changes, Bernstein
noted that a few things have remained consistent, including the quality of the
staff and a communal desire to serve the needs of the campus, to help students
realize their academic potential. Of course, the modern student has the option
of requesting that help in person or via email, text, chat, or phone.